Tag Archives: bike commute

Lunch Loop

January of 2019 marked 15 years since I first started to commute to work by bike. Commuting to work by bike is something that would/could be a blog category all it’s own. There’s that much to say. I won’t say it here.

What commuting to work by bike did end up facilitating was The Lunch Loop. When you have a bike already at work, and nothing to do at lunch, you leave your office and ride a loop. This has been happening for 15 years. When I came up against periods of time when for whatever reason I had to drive to work, I realized I could still just keep a bike at work. Lunch Loops continued. I have a permanent work bike now.

There’s no way I could say how many there have been. And I’ve taken pictures on almost all of them.

I could elucidate ad nauseam about the zen, mind-clearing, sanity-restoring benefits of having such a practice as part of one’s work day, but I’m not going to. You either get it or you don’t. If you don’t my suggestion is – experiment.

The first rule of Lunch Loop is that there’s only one rule: make a loop. Leave your place of work and return to the same place. It doesn’t matter how long you ride, or how convoluted your path, or if you backtrack on your route, or if you run errands along the way, or if you get coffee. Or ice cream. It doesn’t matter what kind of bike you take, or if you wear spandex, or if you wear flip-flops. One simply loops. On a bike. During lunch. On a workday.

Bike Commuting Myth #437

Bike Commuting Myth #437: You need special shoes – False. Although my shoes are indeed special. Your ordinary shoes will work. Not everyone can be as special as me. Truth be told, most of the time, being me is pretty awesome. Often times, much more so than I even am willing admit. But you shouldn’t aspire to be awesome like me. You should be awesome like you. The truest, most-awesome you that you can. And you can use whatever footwear, head dress or body hair configuration works for your purpose. And once you become this awesome, or enlightened, you’ll know it. You’ll be awesomened. You will have achieved awesomement. Others may notice it, or they may not. It matters not. Sometimes it’s more fun when they don’t know. Once you have become awesomenened, resist the urge to proclaim it to the world. Keep it to yourself. Your own private Idaho well of awesomement. Continue about your business and rest assured, things will change. The world will change. Above all, keep riding your bike. This is a wellspring that will continue to replenish your awesomened state. One note: you’re free to utilize whatever accouterements you feel neccessary on your quest for awesomement, but if you can coordinate your socks to your shoes, (also known as The #sockgame precept) as I have here, truly, the Universe will be your most trusted friend and all the powers of sentient beings and fruits and vegetables will be at your command. (Never mind that I’m wearing Kenda socks and running Maxxis tires here – we’re all made of the same space dust, and stuff, and neither of those guys are paying me any money.) Be well and may you always have Cosmic Tailwinds.

Bike Commuting Sucks

Some days, the bike commute is not glorious. It’s not greeting-card sunrises and waxing poetic about active transport being the savior of mankind. You don’t stop and take glamour shots of your bike leaning against a bridge. It’s just /getting to work/. I’m thinking about the project waiting for me that I would rather do anything else than work on. I’m doing creative Steven Hawking Future-Math in my head to try and figure out how the bills are going to get paid on time and still be able to pay for – and somehow guiltlessly enjoy – the planned family vacation that’s already booked. I have to go to the dentist today. THE DENTIST. I don’t want to smile, and nod, and say ‘G’morning’ to everyone I pass on the way (though I still do). The monkey that I’ve stuffed way down in the bottom of the back pannier is nagging, “DUDE, WE SHOULD TOTALLY HIT THAT CIRCLE K, SCORE A MASSIVE COLD COKE AND A BAG OF CARAMEL M&M’S AND JUST SIT ON A BENCH AND STEW IN OUR OWN JUICES FOR AWHILE. THAT’S WHAT YOU NEEEEEEEEEED…..” Riding the bike to work ceases to be a transcendent experience and devolves to a ‘Commute’. But still, it allows for these types of reflection and rumination. Still, the cyclical meditative nature of it is soothing. Still, the fact that it’s a physical activity is satisfying. Eventually I’m able to realize that, at this moment, there’s nothing I can do about those bills. I can’t do anything about that project right now – it’s still a bike ride away. There are people far worse off than me. I could have caved, driven, and be fully regretting it right now – and – finally, come the end of the day, there’s a ride in the other direction home. In ways I can’t always elucidate, riding the bike is still. Better. SSSSHHHH. Shut up, monkey.